“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Blogger and Radio Host Mark Small Actually Harbors Many of the Same Views as the Tea Party He Claims to Despise

Indiana Talks radio host and blogger Mark Small pens another article suggesting that David Ford, Democratic candidate for the 5th Congressional District, is, gasp, a supporter of the Tea Party and, therefore, not a real Democrat:﻿

Mark Small, Host of Civil Discourse Now

Let me be clear when I say: many people---definitely include me among that group---are fed up with the "tea party." They number a small percentage of our electorate and yet have brought government to a halt.

David Ford is a "tea party" person who, if he wins the May 6 primary, will try to out-right-wing Susan Brooks. People in the 5th Congressional District need to turn out and vote. Remember. If you are a progressive, against discrimination of LGBT people, in favor of restoring our infrastructure---DON'T VOTE FOR DAVID FORD IN THE PRIMARY. The mid-term elections generally have low voter turn-out. If you live in the 5th, you need to vote. DO NOT CONFUSE JD FORD WITH DAVID FORD---THEY ARE NOT RELATED BY KINSHIP OR BELIEFS. Vote for Shawn Denney or Allen Ray Davidson for 5th Congressional District. Either would make a good member of Congress.

Mark's notion that there is some deliberate attempt at voter confusion afoot because there is a Democrat named JD Ford running for the state senate is a stretch. After all, a state senate district, which has about 131,000 people, is a very small fraction (at best 18% if it is all included) of the much larger 5th Congressional District which contains about 726,000 people.

Mark not only assumes that Mr. Ford is a member of the Tea Party but that being a member of the Tea Party is incompatible with being a Democrat. But there are Democrats in the Tea Party. In fact, if you examine Mark Small's own political views, you will find that much if not most of his views line up with the Tea Party.

What are major issues for Mark? He despises corporate welfare, a system of crony capitalism in which politicians hand out taxpayer money to preferred corporate interests, generally those who are willing to kick back campaign contributions and jobs to the politicians and their friends. That's the same position as the Tea Party. In fact, it's probably No. 1 on the Tea Party agenda which was founded to oppose the taxpayer-funded bailouts that benefited Wall Street, the big banks and insurance companies.

Civil liberties is also an issue for Mark. Things like NSA spying, civil forfeiture, the ill-fated War on Drugs and its accompanying increase in power for government and law enforcement, is important issue for Mark. Again, Mark's views are aligned with the Tea Party which has as its major tenet opposing government's intrusion on civil liberties.

Mark is also opposed to an interventionist foreign policy. Once again, Mark's position is in line with a majority of Tea Partiers who want a more limited role for the military.

There are differences. The Tea Party's belief in less federal spending and returning power to the states is in no way compatible with Mark's view that Congress need to tax and spend more and that states are merely administrative units for the national government.

Mark fancies himself to be a liberal, which I think he erroneously believes includes being "open-minded." But when it comes to the Tea Party, Mark's fervent opposition seems to be based solely on years of watching MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and the Daily Show. If Mark did went to a few Tea Party meetings, he would find he has a lot more in common with those folks than he does with establishment Republicans and even Democrats. Is Mark a closet Tea Party person? I wouldn't go that far, but it is fair to say that Mark Small does seem to support most of the Tea Party agenda.

The Tea Party is an Astroturf group (phony grassroots) funded by the Koch Brothers...two oil billionaires who just want to avoid taxes and environmental regulations. To stir up support they have brought up the old "states' rights" argument that was used to support slavery and Jim Crow because it works: a lot of white America is still racist in a closeted way. The Tea Party is just the latest incarnation of Nixon's "Southern Strategy" from 1968 that Reagan used so effectively in 1980.

About Me

I have been an attorney since the Fall of 1987. I have worked in every branch of government, including a stint as a Deputy Attorney General, a clerk for a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and I have worked three sessions at the Indiana State Senate.
During my time as a lawyer, I have worked not only in various government positions, but also in private practice as a trial attorney handing an assortment of mostly civil cases.
I have also been politically active and run this blog in an effort to add my voice to those calling for reform.